www.powermag.platts.com Vol. 149 • No. 7 • September 2005

SouthernCaliforniaPublicPowerAuthority'sMagnoliaPowerProjectearnsPOWER'shighesthonor

By Dr. RobertPeltier, PE

II:

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I!

he fallout from California's electricitycrisis of 2000/2001 continues to be

felt four years later. The state'sderegulation bomb was built by mixingequal parts price regulation, plant construc-tion delays, regulations prohibiting long-term wholesale power supply contracts, andgross mismanagement by public officials.The fuse was lit by the market-fixingshenanigansof a few traders, and consumerstook the brunt of the blast.

But Californians are a resilient lot, and

their future now seems brighter with alarger-than-life governor, a solvent PacificGas and Electric Co., renegotiated long-termsupply contracts, and the commissioning of

a few new power plants. However, thestate's energy future still is clouded by thelack of a comprehensive planning approachfor new generation.

A quick analysis of data from the Califor-nia Energy Commission (CEC) web sitereveals the depth of the problem. Since theadvent of deregulation in 1996, the CEC hasapproved 53 new plants with a total capacityof just under 22,000 MW. Only half (27) ofthese projects have been completed, repre-senting 9,808 MW currently in service andanother 1,825 MW due to come on-linesoon, in time for this summer's peakdemand. On the surface, these numbers are

appealing, but their beauty is only skin-deep.

1. local The 31 Q-MW Magnolia Power Project in Burbank,California, is a prototype for a new generation of urban power plants that also help stabilizethe regional grid. Courtesy: Burbank Water and Power

24 www.powermag.platts.com

Too little, too lateA closer look at CEC figures reveals recentdownturnsin project applicationsand capaci-ty expansion. Since October 2003, only fournew projects totaling 541 MW were submit-ted for approval. And no new CEC-approvedprojects went on-line in 2004. According toCEC data, only 13 projects totaling 4,867MWof capacitywillbe ready to be commis-sionedby 2008-not nearlyenoughfor a statewhose annual load growth is 4% and whosesummer peak demand exceeds 45,000 MW.

Exacerbating the problem, California'selectricitysupplysystemis old (40% of powerplants in the state are at least 40-something),and its reliability continues to rely heavily(20% in 2004) on kilowatt-hours importedfrom nearby states. As a result, the impact of

anticipated new capacity must be put in con-text. For example, the unfinished 1,050-MWMountainview Project that Southern CalifomiaEdison (SCE) bought from AES early last

year and is hurrying to complete by later thisyear will just offset the planned retirement in2006 of SCE's 900-MW share of the coal-

fired Mojave Generating Station.As you can see, planning California's elec-

tricity future is as frustrating as trying toassemble a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces

missing. Even worse, occasionally, piecesthought to be in place suddenly disappear.

Here's one example: This year's first South-ern California Stage II power alerts werebroadcast on July 21 and 22 when 2,000 MWwere lost when a Utah plant tripped unexpect-

edly. At the time of the loss, an estimated4,798 MW of in-state capacity were out of

POWER 1 September 2005

service, dropping the region's reserve marginfor hot-weather conditions to near zero. CEC

projections indicate that Southern California'soperating reserves could dip to -15% by2009-well below the desired 7% margin.

Public power serves its peopleLooking forward, the good news for someCaliforniansis that the state's public powersystemsremain in control of their destiny.MarcieEdwards, president of the CaliforniaMunicipalUtilities Association(CMUA) andgeneralmanagerof the AnaheimPublicUtili-tiesdepartment, says, "California's publiclyownedutilitiestake their mandate to plan fortheircustomers' needs very seriously. While

the state's investor-owned utilities were in

turmoil, public power entities were insulatedfrom the deregulation fiasco and continued tofocus on what they do very well: generatingand delivering electricity." According to theCMUA, California's publicly owned electric

utilities serve nearly 30% of California's loadand are expected to average 23% to 26%reserve margins this summer.

Like privately owned systems, publicpower utilities have at their disposal severalstrategies for serving consumers efficientlyand cost-effectively. To meet those goals, onegeneration option long favored by planners issiting new plants closer to demand centers.

Known as load-centered generation (LCG),

2005 PLANTOFTHEYEAR

the strategy would appear ideal for replacinggenerating units that are being retired at urban

sites. In theory, LCG has the potential toreduce the complexity of an already tediousplant siting process by reusing a brownfieldsite and its existing T&D connections andauxiliaries. But in practice, NIMBY (not inmy backyard) syndromehas often made suchsites "off limits" to any new plant, even onethat will operatevery cleanly.

Proving that thoughtful financing, plan-ning, and innovative engineering cancounter NIMBY, the $246 million, 310-MW Magnolia Power Project (Figure I)represents a prototype for urban LCGdevelopment. Magnolia is the largest

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About SCPPAThe Southern California Public

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1980 by theof southern

years, southern Californiasystems have invested in a

nu .missIOn ac states. T

facilities provide diversity in fuel, tech-noloav, and locatioQthat has servedSCPPA

staDLea na:prectn:taDLe.

have traditionally invested in hydroelec-tric-, nuclear-, coal~,and natural gas-fired

September2005 IPOWER-

generation; they are now extending theirin

According to SCPPAExecutive Director

Bill Carnahan/Expansion and repoweringwe, JlmavepLannedmwthr,

year 2010 willadd about 2,000 MWof newired.,generation. The plants to bewirlithehreplace:turrerJtthird~party

power contracts or fill the gap created bythe retirement of older, less-efficient, and

mgre-pollutinggenerating units."Hmll:mm 'liB',". .

2. Pro bono. The Southern California Public Power Authority's membership com-prises 11 municipal utilities .and one irrigation district. Its membership serves more peo-

tha[).a[)y~:~Ji1erp~11;!licpgm¥Yefejjbt,jty U'§mmCou~sy: Birbank Watecand Power

D Magnolia power project

- - - Mead-Phoenix transmission project

- - - Mead-Adelanto transmission project

. Member agencies

. .Adelanto Mead-Adelanto , Hooverupratlngconverter prolect . . . projectstation 500KVAS. 'Ji!1,

100KVAC- -.' \ .AdelantoJr' d500KV , Anzonasubstation. Ms~abstation IPasadena .~ . ~

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l Mead.Phoenix

Burbank :.. ,II,:; . ',project IIGlen~ale I ~ r'

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LosAngeles I I. , .

r.Phoenix

Vernon , ,

Anaheim

Colton IAzusa-.-J I PaloVerdenuceargeneratingstation

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Cerritos --1 I I Riverside

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SaltLake

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converter station

Utah

SanJuan generating

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118Farmington

New Mexico

25

2005 PLANTOFTHEYEAR

municipal power plant to be approved bythe CEC and built since 2000/2001. It is the

result of five years of planning, engineer-ing, and construction; building began inJuly 2003 and was completed in Februaryof this year. First fire of the turbine was onJune 4, and at press time Magnolia waswell into startup activities.

As the host city and manager of theMagnolia project, the City of Burbankowns 31% of the plant and its output. Thecities of Anaheim (38%), Glendale (17%),Pasadena (6%), Cerritos (4%), and Colton(4%) have the remaining shares. The pro-ject was built on 4 acres in the northeastcorner of a 23-acre site on which BurbankWater and Power (BWP) has been gener-ating power since the 1940s.

To make room for Magnolia, two decom-missionedunits were tom down. In addition,

the site's existing electrical switchyard wasupgraded to GIS (gas-insulated substation) in

the same space to handle the increased power

output. Magnolia will do more than just pro-vide electricity to the six cities that own the

plant. Its local generation also will improvethe reliability and stability of the regional grid;although Glendale and Burbank are not mem-

bers of the California Independent SystemOperator (CAISO), they can ship power toCAISO through other public power agencies.Significantly, the Magnolia project requiredno construction of off-site transmission lines.

Financial strength in numbersOn behalf of the six participating cities,the Southern California Public Power

Authority (SCPPA), a state "joint powersauthority," is Magnolia's owner (see box,p. 25). The beauty of this arrangement is

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CIRCLE18 ONREADERSERVICECARD

that it enabled construction of a powerplant much larger than anyone cityrequired. "[Magnolia] is a testament to theability of the six munis to cooperativelyplan and build an energy resource theircustomers need," says Bill Carnahan,SCPPA's executive director (Figure 3).

"This project takes advantage of econo-my-of-scale efficiencies," adds Ron Davis,general manager of BWP, a past presidentof SCPPA, and Magnolia's project director."Because the plant uses the most advancednatural gas-fired generation technologyavailable, it is twice as efficient and pro-duces 90% less air pollution than the twounits it replaced."

The plant design envisions Magnoliabeing operated in baseload mode (8,000hours per year or more) and being staffedby BWP personnel on a 24-hour basis. Toreduce the impact of outages, planned main-tenance will be coordinated with participat-ing utilities during seasonal periods whenelectricity demand is traditionally low.

Although BWP will operate Magnolia,each of the six cities will schedule its offtake

of the plant's production each hour of everyday and supply its own fuel during thosetimes. In effect, this will allow the one largeplant to serve as six individual "smallerunits," providing scheduling flexibility foreach city. To that end, six separate heat-ratecurves were created to facilitate computation

3. leadership par excellence. RonDavis, general manager of Burbank Waterand Power and Magnolia's project director(left), and Bill Carnahan, SCPPA's executivedirector (right) led the plant's dedication cer-emonies on June 3. Courtesv: BurbankWater and Power

POWER ISeptember 2005

of each participant's offtake in nonnal, duct-fired, and steam-injection operating modes.

State-of-the-art CCThe key subsystems of Magnolia, which isa straightforward lxl combined-cycle (CC)plant (Figure 4), are: a combustion turbine-generator and steam turbine-generator(both from GE), an Alstom heat-recoverysteam generator (HRSG), a Puretec watertreatment system, an Aquatech zero liquiddischarge (ZLD) system, and a Marleycooling tower. Other major suppliers ofequipment and services are listed in thetable.The plant's design allows for supple-mentalfiring in the HRSG and steam injec-tion in the combustion turbine to increase

generatingcapacity from a nominal level of120to 242 MW up to 310 MW.

On the generation side, Magnolia'sprime mover is a General Electric 7FAcombustion turbine-generator equippedwith GE's latest DLN 2.6 (dry low-NO,)combustor. This unit has proven, indozens of applications, capable of limitingthe engine's NO, and CO emissions to 9ppm each (Figure 5). The steam turbine is aGE A-14 optimized for compatibility withthe 7FA, and the one at Magnolia is thefirst of its kind to be commissioned.

Amongthe design advances included in theA-14 are: high-reactiondrum rotor construc-tion, a steam inlet pressure of 2,100 psi,optimized seal clearances, lower-pressure-drop steam valves, higher-efficiencylast-stage buckets, and better materials.

Firing of the HRSG greatly increases thesteam turbine-generator's efficiency andoutput. The turbine's improved efficiency,and use of its reheat cycle and variable fir-ing rate, result in higher plant efficiencyover a wide load range than would throt-tling the turbine's high-pressure steam flowat partial loads. Meanwhile, Magnolia'scombustion turbine is equipped with an airinlet cooling system that can boost plantoutputby approximately 9% on wann days.

Magnolia's designers selected an Alstomtriple-pressureHRSG optimized for cyclingandconstructability(OCC) to provide superi-or high-cycling duty and the lowest erectedcost (Figure6). This kind of unit costs less tobuild, goes on-line faster, and delivers highoperational flexibility. In Alstom' s OCCHRSGs, thennal stresses in critical compo-nents are minimized by using pressure partswhosematerials are capable of maintaining aunifonn temperaturedistribution.

The Alstom HRSG also features modu-

larized components such as pressure parts,structural steel, lagging and insulation,stacks, stairs, and platfonns. According tothe company, this design technique typical-

l September 2005 IPOWER

2005PLANTOFTHEYEAR

4. Six-pack. Magnolia's power output willbe split among the six project owners accord-ing to their share. The plant is expected to operate about 8,000 hours per year. Courtesy:Burbank Water and Power

Major suppliers of equipment and services to the Magnolia Power Project

Equipmentorservice Company

Combustion turbine-generator, steam turbine-generator

HRSG, steam turbine condenser

Selective catalytic reduction

Water treatment system

Zeroliquid discharge facility

Cooling tower

Power transformers

Distributed control system

Switchgear, motor control centers

Gas-insulated substation

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-- --------~son ~ss Managem~n~

~~~yst~~- - .'-ABBln;;:-'--

EPC contractor

Owner's engineering services

Lender's engineering services

Resident engineering services, project administration

Partnership consulting

Landscape design services

,- ---Mer Kvae;;;r-S';;ng;!nc.,-~~~k &Veatch -- -~- --~gant ConsultingInc. =

Bibb & Associates Inc.i~'= ==~ ,,==:. ~l~e=LewiSGroup==

AHBE Landscape Architects

Source: Burbank Water and Power

Iy reduces the number of field-welded pipeconnections by about 70%, from I ,060 toabout 300,

For a plant like Magnolia that isdesigned to be cycled, the details of itsHRSG are very important. Alstomanswered the challenge by including in itsunit a number of design features that willenable the unit to continue making steamregardless of the plant's operating profile.They include:

III A single row of tubes per header toreduce thennal stress at the web joints,

III Finned tubes without bends to minimizestressesin tube-to-header welds.

II Elimination of division walls inside

headers to prevent the creation of hightemperature differentials.

. Flexible connections between sections tominimize stresses.

III Multiple header connections to promoteunifonn flow through tubes.

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5. Prime mover. Most of the electricity at Magnolia is generated by a General Electric7FA combustion turbine-generator. It is equipped with a DLN 2.6 (dry 10w-NOx)combustorcapable of keeping emissions of both NOx and CO under 9 ppm. Source: Platts

6. Peak Duct firing increases the plant's output from a nominal 120 to242 MW in baseload operation up to 310 MW during peak demand periods. Source: Platts

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1!11 Generous drains carefully placed toallow rapid and complete drainage ofcondensate.

1!11 High-creep-strength materials (P91 andT9l stainless steel) to reduce stress andextend equipment life.

Alstom chose Dallas-based Peerless

Mfg. Co. to provide selective catalyticreduction (SCR) downstream of theHRSG. The SCR system utilizes aqueousammonia as the reagent. The ammonia isfirst vaporized by recirculated exhaustgases from the HRSG and then is distrib-uted through ammonia injection gridslances within the unit. The system iswarranted to meet the stringent emis-sions limits of 2 ppm NO, and 5 ppmammonia slip specified in Magnolia'sair-pollution control permit. Its designincludes space for 50% more catalyst inthe event that further NOx reduction is

required in the future or to minimize cat-alyst replacement costs.

No wasted waterAlong with using the latest in air pollutioncontrols, Magnolia uses reclaimed waste-water from the City of Burbank for all ofits process water needs. Because all of thewastewater will be used on-site, none of itwill ever be discharged into the Los Ange-les River. A ZLD system removes all ofthe impure solids from the plant's coolingwater after it has passed through the cool-ing tower. The processed water is thenused for plant systems, and the solids aretransported to a landfill.

One of the biggest challenges was todetermine where plant water dischargescould be placed. After months of dicker-ing with local water boards and gettingnowhere (even though the dischargedwater would be cleaner than city water),SCPPA bit the bullet and went with zeroliquid discharge.

There are two water treatment systemsat Magnolia: one conventional and onefor ZLD. First in the chain is Puretec' sReclaimed Water Demineralizer System,which takes reclaimed effluent from Bur-bank's wastewater treatment plantthrough four refining steps to produceultra-pure water that exceeds steam puri-ty requirementsfor gasand steamturbineprocess flows. This saves about 2 milliongallons of potable water each day thatwould otherwise be required to operatethe plant's turbines and cooling watersystem. The steps, in order, are microfil-tration, chemical treatment, reverseosmosis (hyperfiltration), and polishing(ion exchange). The water treatment SY

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POWER I September 2005

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2005 PLANTOFTHEYEAR

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7. Waste not, want not. Magnolia'szero liquiddischargesystem enables the plant to adopt a strict water conservation policy.All of the plant's water needs, including those for potable water, areserved by water reclaimed from wastewater. Source: Platts

8. Zero means zero. Concentratedplantwastewateris eithercrystallized or dewatered, and all. resulting sludge is landfilled.Source: Platts

tem is installed under an owner/operatoragreement, with Puretec Industrial Water(Ventura, Calif.) providing all systemO&M services.

Next in the chain is the ZLD system(Figure 7) from Aquatech InternationalCorp. (Canonsburg, Pa.). It allows Magnoliato recyclelreuse the processed wastewaterand adopt a policy of water conservation.The Aquatech HERO/Crystallizer ZLDprocess comprises the following steps:water softening and clarification, multi-media filtration, ion exchange (weakacid/cation units), decarbonation, reverseosmosis (hyperfiltration), crystallization,and sludge handling (Figure 8). Among theadvantages of the system are these:

II The ZLD system cleans the coolingtower blowdown and turbine wastewater

that would be discharged at other plants.Once the water completes a cyclethrough the ZLD system, the resulting

30

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clarified water is sent back into the cool-

ing system, and the wastes are extractedas solids for recycling and disposal.

II The HERO (high-efficiency reverseosmosis) process recovers the waterusing reverse osmosis membranes withsignificantly less power consumptionthan an evaporator-type brine concentra-tor ~ould require.

II This ZLD system can be kept in hotstandby mode to follow the operatingprofile of the power plant. This facil-itates operation and further reducespower consumption.

II Because the Magnolia plant is locatedwithin city limits, visual impact is amajor consideration. Aquatech's HERO/Crystallizer process uses no piece ofequipment higher than 50 feet tall, sothe system can be tucked away behindthe cooling tower.

land Park, Kansas) supplied Magnolia'scooling tower. The six-cell tower structureuses fire-retardant pultruded fiberglasscomponents (rather than treated wood)because fiberglass is immune to chemicalattack and thus requires no chemical treat-ment, which eliminates another toxicwaste to handle. Noise control also was an

important design criterion..The tower'stwo-speed, single-winding motors allowits 14-bladed fans to operate at a slowerspeed, reducing the noise generated. Aheavy casing, taller fan cylinders, and airinlet louvers also help to keep the towerquiet.

The Magnolia project achieved aremarkable safety record throughout itsconstruction, logging more than one mil-lion man-hours of work without a singlelost-time accident. Cal-OSHA recognizedthe contractor, Aker Kvaerner Songer,with a prestigious safety award to markthis accomplishment. .Marley Cooling Technologies (Over-

POWER ISeptember 2005

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